A BROTHER and sister studying for their GCSEs have lost their seats on the school bus because there are too many children.

James-Dean Brown and Sabina Brown are in their final year at the Chantry High School in Martley and have caught the bus there for the past four years.

But this year they have been told there is no room for them on board, and their mother now has to drive them from their Stourport home.

Florence Brown, of Arley Common, said: "I am disgusted that my two children have been using the bus for the past four years and now, in their final year, they have been told that they cannot.

"I know we live out of the catchment area but there are other children who also live out of the catchment that are allowed to travel on the bus.

"This is very unfair.

"It is not as if they are only just starting at the school - they only have a matter of months to go."

Sabina, aged 16, and James-Dean, 15, used to catch the bus at 8am every day to take them to the school. Now they have to leave earlier so Mrs Brown can drop them off, before returning to Stourport to take her 10-year-old daughter Sallon to Astley Primary School.

"My main objection is that this is their last year and is very important," she said.

"What if I could not drive? Then how would they get to school? There is no public bus running between us and the school, so they would be stuck."

Lyn Hill, of Linden Avenue, Stourport, said her two children Katie, 15, and Shane, 12, were still using the bus, despite living out of the catchment area.

She said: "I think it's disgusting some parents are being told their children cannot use the bus. If it happened to me I would be really stuck as I would have no way of getting them to school."

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said the take-up rate for those living within the catchment area for the Chantry High was up this year.

He said any spare spaces on the bus were allocated to those from outside the area on a first come, first served basis.

They said: "Pupils who do not live in the catchment area for the Chantry have, up until now, been able to use this service.

"However, we have received more requests from pupils who live within the catchment area to use the service this year, which means there are no longer any vacant seats.

"It is a decision we have not taken lightly, but have had to do so to avoid overcrowding. We will, of course, let people who live outside the catchment area know if the situation changes."